


An educational family dinner

by Lady_Quill



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: F/F, Family Dinners, Gen, Implied Evil Queen | Regina Mills/Emma Swan, Sexuality Crisis, at least eventually - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-01-11
Updated: 2015-01-17
Packaged: 2018-03-07 02:21:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 5,262
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3157541
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lady_Quill/pseuds/Lady_Quill
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Emma makes an offhand comment that things would be so much easier if only Regina and she were a couple, leading to awkward conversations of the foot-in-mouth variety.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hello! I had the idea for this story around the end of season 2, which is when this takes place, and just now finished editing enough to post. Comment if you'd like me to continue the story, or have suggestions for doing so!

Emma watched as Regina helped Henry check on the lasagna still in the oven. There was an uncharacteristic tenderness to her movements, a sing-song lilt to her voice that betrayed affection the queen never had shown for anyone else in Storybrooke. Dinner would be another fifteen minutes, so Henry ran upstairs to his old bedroom to read. He was always reading, and even if it was mostly the huge book of fairy tales from Mary Margaret, Emma was glad he’d developed an intellectual inclination.

It was for Henry’s sake that she and Regina were here in her kitchen making an attempt at “family dinner.” They were really trying this time; Henry had made them agree to it after returning from Neverland. Though, Emma figured if it somehow managed to work, the general safety of the town would probably benefit too. She and Regina had both promised their son they would be a family, and if either of them went back on their word Henry had said he would disown both of them. Sneaky kid.

“God this would be so much easier if you were gay,” she blurted out.

Regina’s head snapped up. “What?”

“Oh, nothing… never mind.” Emma colored and looked away. She always knew the right time to say things, didn’t she. They sat awkwardly a minute, listening to the sound of the egg timer tick softly. “I just…”

Regina cocked her eyebrows.

“It’s just that it really would be so much easier if you were gay, because then we wouldn’t have to fight over who got to be Henry’s mom, well, except for Neal but he’d get over himself. I should stop rambling and do something useful – what’s left to clean up?”

“You can’t force someone to be happy, Emma.”

Great. Now Regina thought she was trying to pressure her, and it was really just a stupid thing to say.

“I was just saying it would help is all. Well, only if we were together, I didn’t mean that if you were gay you’d necessarily be with me... But don’t tell Henry because I don’t want him getting ideas and I also really don’t want to have The Talk with him any earlier than absolutely necessary.” Henry was a sweet kid and all, but she was planning on delegating that conversation to Neal. With whatever bribes were necessary.

“Emma,” Regina’s words were measured, “is gay something… different, here?”

“Oh. OH! You thought I meant gay as in ‘happy,’ um…” Emma immediately went to the sink to busy herself with washing dishes. One dish. Damn Regina’s efficiency in the kitchen. “Well, being gay is… ah…” Shit, she had no idea how to explain this to someone from the Enchanted Forest and there was no way she could get out of it now. “Don’t they have gay people where you’re from?” It was the wrong thing to say, because Regina just scowled at her.

“I won’t know, Miss Swan, unless you tell me what the hell you’re talking about.”

“Well… a gay woman, a lesbian I guess is what I mean, though bi would work, although you probably don’t know what that is either? I thought you were supposed to know about stuff in the modern world after being here so long. But anyway, it refers to women who like other women.”

“So?” Regina scoffed.

“So what!”

“Just because I don’t get along with… well, most people, doesn’t mean I’m strictly incapable of liking others.”

  
Clearly Emma was an expert at conversations; this was going so well. “I don’t mean… liking people in a ‘just friends’ sort of way.” God, she was starting to sound like a teenager. There was no way she could ever talk like this with Henry. Neal was going to get all of the chocolate. Or whatever else it would take for him to deal with conversations like this.

“Well, if you want to know, a lesbian,” a voice piped up from the stairs, “is a woman who wants to marry another woman. Same with a gay guy – they want to marry another guy. Bisexuals don’t mind if they marry a man or if they marry a woman and transgender people feel like they’ve been put into a body with the wrong gender. And ‘queer’ is sort of the umbrella term for people who identify with different sexual orientations or gender expressions.”

Emma stared as Henry strode back into the kitchen with a smile on his face.

“When did you learn all of that, kid?”

“When I came to find you there was a PFLAG brochure someone left on the subway. I got bored of reading from my book of fairy tales, so I took a look. It was very informative.”

“I’ll bet it was,” Emma mumbled to herself. “Look kid,” she said in her best ‘I’m going to be a parent now’ voice, “you’d better march yourself right back upstairs until dinner’s ready.”

“But Mom…” he whined.

“Isn’t that illegal?” Regina asked quietly to no one in particular.

“Nope! Well, it was for a really long time, and in some countries it still is. But here it isn’t illegal, and some states even let two men or two women get married, which makes sense because love is love.” Emma shot her son a reproachful glare, but he just grinned. That kid was way too cheerful for this conversation.

“That must have been some hell of a brochure.” Emma was not having this discussion. She wasn’t.

“Anyway,” Henry continued, “it would be nice if you and Dad got back together, but if you and my Mom got married that’d be great too.”

Emma opened her mouth to say something, but nothing came to mind. She tried again – nope, there wasn’t really anything she could think of, but she had the sinking feeling a call to Neal freaking out was somewhere in her not-so-distant future. Henry took the opportunity to scurry back upstairs, calling “I’ll come back when the lasagna’s done!”

So Emma was left alone with a rather pale Regina clutching the pantry door like it was the only thing keeping her standing. Or from incinerating everyone in sight, Emma still couldn’t quite tell the difference.

“You ok?” Regina had moved to sit down at the table and wrapped her arms around herself, shoulders hunched forward, as if she wanted to somehow make herself smaller. This wasn’t like the queen at all, with her grand physical gestures even in anger and grief. Regina wasn’t usually this pensive, this… internal, and it scared her. “Did I miss something? You look awful,” she tried again. Regina didn’t even scowl at her and Emma wondered if she should start fearing for her life.

“How…” the queen began slowly, taking another minute to gather her thoughts. “How do you know if… if you’re… you know.”

“If you’re gay?” Regina nodded. “Geez. I mean, I guess… if you’re attracted to someone of the same gender, beyond friendship, like you want to picture them naked. Shit, I suck at this. Maybe we should call Henry back in,” Emma added sarcastically.

“No!” Regina said a little too loudly. “No, that’s… I don’t think Henry could answer this one.”

“I could call Neal?”

“Neal?”

“Yeah, he’s better with the fluffy emotions stuff than I am. Crazy, I know, but there it is.”

“I don’t think – ”

“You wanna talk to Henry?”

“No.”

“Well… I can ask Neal if he’d be ok talking to you about this, unless you’d feel more comfortable talking to someone who grew up in the Enchanted Forest.”

“You…” Regina paused, and for a minute Emma panicked that the queen was about to ask a very personal question that would lead to very stupid confessions knowing her tendency to blurt things out at the worst moments. “You feel uncomfortable talking about this.”

“Oh. Sorry, I was expecting you to ask… anyway. I mean, I guess I could talk with you about it after dinner.”

“It doesn’t matter. I don’t… I shouldn’t have asked. And if I’m not mistaken the lasagna should be ready about now.”

The rest of the evening turned out surprisingly well, considering Emma’s talent for sticking her foot in her mouth, and Regina’s strict avoidance of the entire are-you-gay thing. Emma professed that the lasagna was delicious, and that wasn’t just because Emma couldn’t cook to save her life. But overall it made Henry happy, and that was what this whole thing had been about, hadn’t it?


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Neal is actually a decent human being, and Emma freaks out some more.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for all of your encouraging comments! I had this bit of draft that didn't get included in the first chapter, but I promise the next chapter will be with Regina's POV.

“Okay, slow down a sec,” Neal said, cradling the phone on his shoulder. “Are you trying to tell me that I need to talk to Regina, evil queen Regina, to find out if she’s gay?”

Neal had experienced some fairly weird situations, but this was just… bizarre. He knew Emma and Regina were at least trying not to kill each other anymore and had assumed if he got involved it would only complicate things. He and Emma hadn’t exactly been close since he arrived in Storybrooke, so he didn’t expect Emma to call in the first place (and even if he had hoped that, just maybe, she would trust him enough to talk about what she was thinking and they could be friends again, he figured her call would have something to do with suspicions about Regina’s plotting).

“I told her you were better with feelings,” Emma admitted.

“Uh huh.” Neal waited patiently. “What’s really going on, Emma?”

“What! Nothing, nothing’s going on why would there be something else going on.” Damn it. She hated when she rambled because Neal knew she did that to deflect from the truth.

“Emma.”

“No! I can’t – there isn’t anything going on because it’s not like she feels the same and I don’t want to mess this up for Henry.”

The line was quiet and Emma worried for a second that Neal had hung up on her. But then he laughed.

“Shit, you’ve got a crush on Regina?!”

“No, I mean I might but I can’t, because she’s my mom’s stepmother and also my age and I don’t even really know what that means, and she’s also Henry’s mother and I promised him we wouldn’t go back to fighting.”

“I wouldn’t exactly call wanting to fuck someone’s brains out fighting.”

“Neal!”

“Sorry, couldn’t help it,” he chuckled.

“I meant if, for some inexplicable reason, Regina does like me back, which she doesn’t don’t you dare laugh at me over the phone and it doesn’t work out Henry would never forgive me.”

“But you still want me to find out if she’s gay for you.”

“Neal, would you stop making fun of me – this is serious!”

“Does she know you’re bi?”

“No,” Emma whined. How was it Henry was better at this? Maybe the romance genes skipped her and went straight to Henry. “Please, I’m trying to be serious here.”

“I know, but you have to admit it’s pretty funny. You’ve got a crush on the Evil Queen, and you want me to help you find out if she’s gay. Specifically, if she’s got a thing for you.”

“She was the one who asked how you know if you’re gay. It’s not like I said, hey Regina, I think you should find out if you’re a lesbian because I want to know if I’ve got a shot with you.”

“You could have told her what you went through realizing you were bi; you didn’t have to rope me into this.” He paused. “So, this crush,” he heard Emma scoff over the line at his choice of words, “is it just a physical thing? Or do you want this to be a relationship?”

“I don’t know! And that’s why I can’t talk to her about this. I know what I went through, and I know it’d probably help, but I’m afraid things will just slip out because they always do when I’m around her and I don’t even know what I’m looking for in a relationship and then things would get all weird and Henry would notice and then I’d have to tell him what was going on… I just… want her to be able to let me in.”

“Into your pants?”

“No! I mean, well, yes, but that’s… I just, aaggh!” Emma spluttered. “She’s built up this wall around her emotions, and the only one she’ll ever let her guard down for is Henry, except sometimes we’ll be eating dinner together and it’s like we’re a family, and she’ll look at me as if… like she’s happy, and I’d give anything to be able to see her look like that all the time without her hiding it like she’s afraid if someone notices they’ll take her happiness away.”

“Okay.”

“…okay what?”

“Okay, I’ll talk to her. But only when she’s ready. I’m not putting my neck on the line because I tried to force the Evil Queen to have a conversation she wasn’t ready for.”

“Oh. I… thanks, Neal.”

“Sure thing. Hey Emma?”

“What now. Please don’t say you want me to set you up with the pirate,” Emma grumbled, “glad as I’d be to foist him on someone else.”

“No,” Neal laughed. “I just… missed this. Being friends.” He knew in his gut, ever since he left her for the police, that he’d never get another chance to be with Emma. But this, friends, maybe they had a real shot at.

“Yeah, me too. Sap.”

“Goodnight, Emma.”

“Night.”


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Regina's got a lot of emotional baggage, so she goes to visit the only person who could possibly understand it.

Regina sat on the edge of her bed, staring at the cell phone in her lap. This was ridiculous. She shouldn’t have shared her concerns with anyone, let alone Emma, and somehow this had escalated to the point where she was actually considering calling up this woman’s ex-lover to discuss the possibility of… everything being turned upside down. Why couldn’t the sheriff just have kept her mouth shut?

This was wrong. Everything was wrong, and legal or not she couldn’t be sure that “evil queen a wife-stealing tribade” wasn’t going to be on the front page of the newspaper if she… what did that brochure call it… “came out.” But that was only if she was queer. And if Emma was so uncomfortable with the subject, maybe it wasn’t so accepted in this world as Henry’s brochure professed.

Either way, there was one person on her mind this afternoon she needed to talk to. Regina was glad for once that Henry was staying with Emma and his grandparents, because this was one trip she needed to take alone.

The wooded path was familiar enough to her, though it had been months since she’d last been here. As Regina descended the stairs of the mausoleum, she glanced back up at the door, allowing herself one last thought of backing out. Cowardice didn’t suit her, she decided, and pulled up a seat.

“Hello, mother.”

“It’s been awhile since I’ve been here, and… that was on purpose. I didn’t want to forgive you. I still don’t, but I thought if I came here, well, I don’t know.” But Regina does know. She’s thought about this confrontation dozens of times, and in each scenario she struggles not to give in like an obedient child and beg for this woman’s forgiveness, pretend as if the way Cora treated her wasn’t damaging.

“I don’t forgive you, mother.” She can feel her throat start to constrict, but she won’t give into her tears just yet. Not until she’s safely at home, with her pillows and tissues and probably some wine. “It was never just about Danielle.” Sometimes she thinks it would have been so much easier, but the mistrust and hurt lies much deeper than that. She was a good girl, even when she trained in dark magic, even when she had Leopold killed. Was it after she lost control of her anger, after she attempted revenge on Snow, that Cora had become disappointed with her? Or had the woman felt that way from the very beginning, and Regina simply never stood a chance?

She almost wants to touch the lid, but sitting in a chair near the door is as close as she’s willing to get to Cora Mills. The air is dry in the crypt; it lacks the musty smell of decaying leaves on the ground above. “Henry will want to dig out the plastic rakes so we can jump in the leaves this year,” she mused. “And he’s got a dozen ideas for his Halloween costume.”

Regina sighed and clasped her hands together. “I suppose this is normalcy for us, now. Or as close as one can get living in a town full of magic that technically shouldn’t exist.”

“You were right, that I never could have had a life running away with that girl... in this world, perhaps, but not the Enchanted Forest. I didn’t want to admit that to you, because you’d assume that meant you were right about all the other decisions you made for me.”

Regina brushed the wetness from the corner of her eyes and stood up. “Well, I think that’s about all I can take for one afternoon.” She ought to put a clock on the wall, or something that makes noise. It’s awfully quiet down here.

“Good bye, mother.”

She could give Neal a call later. Right now there was a bottle of wine with her name on it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I started writing this chapter thinking about who Regina could trust enough to talk to, and besides Emma she doesn't really have anyone (unless I decided to include season 3 and 4 characters, which I haven't decided on yet). So this is what happened. Any ideas, critique, etc. please leave comments! Thanks guys <3


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Emma's been waiting for Regina to call all week.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to anyone who's still reading this story! Your comments are helpful and a great motivator to keep writing. I was originally going to post one long chapter, but I split it up so instead you'll be able to read this part while I edit the longer portion. So, more to come!

“But it’s Friday,” Emma whined over the phone. “She hasn’t called me all week, and Henry’s idea was for us to have weekly dinners. I don’t know if I should call her or not; if she doesn’t want to talk to me I don’t want to force it. But what if she’s expecting me to call and now she thinks I’ve abandoned her?” She sighed dramatically and leaned back in her chair. “I’ve fucked this up, Neal. Already.”

“You haven’t fucked it up,” Neal tried to reassure her. “Why don’t you wait until lunch, and then give her a call. Ask if she’d like you to come over for dinner.”

“Thanks. I owe you one.”

“I know. Think you could spare Henry next Sunday afternoon for a day out on the lake?”

“Yeah. He’s supposed to be staying with me that weekend, so I’ll clear the afternoon for you guys.”

“Great. I have to get back to work now, though.”

“Bye, Neal. Thanks again.”

Emma slipped her cell phone back into her pocket and tried to focus on the paperwork sitting on her desk. Two noise disturbances, a smashed window, and an ogre sighting that she wasn’t sure whether to categorize as a prank call or a genuine mistake. But as she waited for the lunch hour, Regina’s silence was at the forefront of her mind.

Talking to Neal had given her a small amount of reassurance, and if she were desperate she could probably manipulate Henry into getting Regina to talk to her. Emma was in the midst of formulating her plan when her pocket started vibrating.

“Hello?” she answered, not bothering to look at the caller ID.

“Sheriff Swan.” 

Emma smiled at the voice; there was only one person who addressed Emma as Sheriff with such disdain. “Hey Regina,” she said. “I’m… glad you called.”

“I do realize that tonight is supposed to be our family dinner, and that you were probably expecting my call more in advance…”

“It’s fine,” Emma lied. Well, it would be fine, now that Regina was talking to her again.

“Perhaps, if Henry wouldn’t mind another night with your parents… dinner could just be us? I’d like to talk with you without wondering if our son is going to commandeer the discussion.”

“Uh, yeah, of course. See you at six.”

Emma was glad she didn’t have to share her next shift with David. Dinner alone with Mayor Mills wasn’t exactly ‘date’ material, but she was nervous all the same. What was she supposed to wear? Was she supposed to bring anything? Henry wasn’t going to be there, so she couldn’t use him as a buffer if Regina’s temper (or hers) got out of hand. Maybe, if she was lucky, there’d be another ogre sighting.


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Emma comes to dinner, and gets an unexpected confession.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi all, sorry for leaving you with such a short chapter last time! I wanted to finish writing their dinner before I posted the chapter, rather than split it up, which is why the short chapter happened.
> 
> I'm really glad you guys like the story so far, though! As always, let me know if you have ideas, critique, etc.

The first awkward moments in the doorway were over, thank god. Emma had decided to bring a bottle of wine, which she most certainly did not pick out herself. Beer or mixed drinks she could handle, but wine was outside her expertise. Regina accepted the gift politely without critique, which Emma took as a positive sign.

“So, uh…” Emma floundered, now that the conversation was up to her, “how was your week?” Damn, that sounded corny. She might as well have asked how the weather was. There was always ‘what’s for dinner’ but Emma didn’t want to seem like an overeager child. Something about Regina’s poise, her arrogant composure, just made Emma clam up.

“Grasping at straws already, Miss Swan?” Regina chuckled. “I called Abigail today. Well, Kathryn, actually. Why chose to use her name from the curse, I still don’t understand.”

“How’s she doing? She ended up at law school, right?” Emma vaguely remembered that, as Kathryn Nolan, the woman had been admitted to law school, but only after the curse was broken had she decided to accept.

“Yes, she’s starting her second year now, in Boston.”

“Oh, that’s great. Does she like the city?”

“She does. Frederick is teaching self-defense classes, and training for the police academy. He was one of the highest ranking knights of the realm, after all. I suppose it’s a little more fitting than a gym teacher.”

“Yeah. Fairy tale knight, though… that’s gotta be a tough one to put on the resume.”

“Well… I might have made a couple of phone calls,” Regina admitted. Emma raised an eyebrow – there was no way a few phone calls, even from Mayor Mills, would explain where Frederick got his experience. “Fine, and I might have used some magic. But he and Kathryn are happy, so that’s… good.” It was a new experience for Regina, helping someone else intentionally to find happiness.

“Yeah, that is good.”

“We weren’t all that close, even under the curse, but I think… maybe I can add her to the list of people who don’t hate me now,” Regina added softly.

“Henry and I better be on that list, you know,” Emma teased.

“You’re at the top,” Regina smiled fondly. Talking to Kathryn, she’d realized just how much she didn’t feel comfortable opening up to her… and how much she wanted to tell Emma instead. Regina opened her mouth as if she were going to speak, but took several things out of the kitchen pantry instead. “I suppose you’d like an explanation for my silence all week.”

“I mean, I would, but if you don’t want to talk about it that’s ok.” Emma desperately wanted the other woman to trust her, but she knew it couldn’t be forced. She didn’t like the idea of Regina isolating herself from everyone, not when Emma and Henry could be there for support.

“I think I’d like to.”

“Oh, ok.”

“There’s… I’m not quite sure how to begin.” Regina did want to talk, that was the whole reason for inviting Emma, but it still scared her. Emma could very well use Regina’s weakness to her advantage, and that sort of power wasn’t to be given up lightly. Trust was only temporary, after all.

“Usually at the beginning? The very best place…” Emma began singing.

“If you start singing from the Sound of Music so help me I will never feed you again,” Regina threatened.

“Yes, ma’am,” Emma replied promptly. Regina’s cooking was way too good for Emma to give up willingly. “Why not the beginning, though?”

Regina sighed. “I could tell you what it was like growing up with a woman who had no qualms about using magic for disciplinary measures, and expectations of nothing less than excellence, but we’d be here for hours.” The egg timer next to the stove chirped, and Regina tested the boiling pasta. “Oh, good, the macaroni is done.”

“I still don’t understand how you do that.”

“Do what?”

“Time it so… precisely. I just sort of keep it boiling until the microwave timer beeps at me, and it’s either underdone or I leave the pasta in so long it gets overcooked.”

“Precision is another form of control. Recognizing that doesn’t mean I can accept uncertainty, but Dr. Hopper tells me that’s progress nonetheless. I think his brief experience with Cora Mills… enlightened him.”

“Is that what you’d call being taken hostage.”

“Yes,” Regina said firmly. “I,” she softened her voice a little, “assume there are a few things about your past you don’t care to discuss either.”

“Oh,” Emma said, shuffling her feet. “Yeah, that’s fair. But you did say you wanted to talk… was there something specific you had in mind?”

“There was. I’d like to wait until after dinner is ready, though. I’d hate for you to have to finish the recipe for me.”

“Hey, I can follow a recipe,” she pouted. “What are we having, anyway?”

“Macaroni and cheese,” Regina answered. “You do realize that even if I’m incapacitated I probably wouldn’t let you near the oven.”

“Why do you need the oven?” Emma wondered. “Aren’t we just going to pour the sauce over the pasta and eat it?”

“Gods, no. Haven’t you ever had macaroni and cheese not from the box?”

Emma had the good graces to look appalled for Regina’s sake. “Umm… no?”

“Hand me the cheese grater, Miss Swan. This is how real food is made.”

They cooked in an amiable silence, and when Regina started to hum Emma didn’t dare point it out to the former queen. It was a soothing tune; it almost sounded like something Snow had sung to Henry one night last weekend when he couldn’t fall asleep. But of course the two of them couldn’t last too long without disagreeing about something. Emma wanted to add more butter than the recipe called for, and she thought Regina added too much cheese, but when Regina poured the sauce into the baking dish it smelled heavenly – certainly better than anything that came out of a box.

“Of course it does,” Regina said. “The box is cheap, and convenient, I’ll give you that. But it’s not the most nutritious and making it yourself gives you much more…”

“Control?” Emma guessed.

“I was going to say options, but yes, that too.” Regina set the timer again while dinner was in the oven, and gestured for Emma to sit with her in the living room. This was it, Regina thought; if she didn’t start talking now she might never work up the courage. “I suppose Snow told you about… when I first met her. After I rescued her, I mean. Later. When she came back and saw me… with….”

“With Daniel?”

“Yes. Tell me, how does Snow remember it? I think it may… make the story easier, if we start there.”

“Ok, um, sure. Well, Snow said she was young. Like, ten or twelve maybe?”

“Did she tell you how old I was?” Regina interrupted.

“Uh, no, not really. I just sort of assumed…”

“Seventeen.”

“I… seventeen?” Emma asked. She knew the former queen had been young when she married Leopold, but Emma assumed Regina was well into her twenties by that point.

“Turning eighteen shortly after, but yes,” she confirmed.

Emma waited for Regina to jump in with another comment, but the other woman just stared down at her lap. “Look, if this is too much for you…” Emma suggested.

“I’m fine,” Regina snapped. “Sorry, I… please continue. It’s been a while since I’ve heard it out loud.”

“Ok,” Emma said. “Just let me know if you need me to stop.” There wasn’t much more reassurance she could give, so Emma continued, “Snow saw you kiss the stable boy, Daniel, and when you mentioned running away together… she didn’t want you to lose your relationship with your mother, like she did. So she told Cora, who had Daniel killed, and then you married Leopold.” Snow’s version had been rather succinct, but Emma had gotten the gist. She gathered it was a painful memory for Snow as well.

“I suppose that would be how she’d remember it. Only a few people really knew who she was.”

“Who, Cora?”

“No, everyone knew who Cora was,” Regina smiled coldly. “I mean Danielle… She was the daughter of a knight. She told me once that her favorite thing in the world was to dress as a boy and train the horses, since as a girl she wouldn’t have been allowed. When she grew up, she travelled to other kingdoms where no one would recognize her.”

“And you…”

“I wouldn’t say I fell in love with her. Danielle was dressed as a boy and we were running away together, so saying we were in love was the easiest way to explain that to a little girl. We did love each other though, and maybe I was… in love with her just a little. I didn’t think Cora knew about Danielle, but… well. She did. Running away seemed pointless after that. So I stayed, and married Snow’s father, and… faced the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune. A royal marriage has its expectations, too.”

“I… geez Regina. That’s awful.”

“Had Danielle been a boy I’m sure Cora would have objected and pulled out his heart all the same. But I couldn’t have run off with a girl… it was unconscionable that we could be together romantically, even to me at the time, and besides, it would have been illegal.”

“Illegal?”

“In our kingdom, yes, it was punishable by hanging. I gather some learned to live quietly, or simply made themselves indispensable to the ruling party. To be fined instead of hanged was considered a very generous settlement, almost equivalent to a royal pardon.”

“It’s not like that here.”

“So you’ve told me.”

“I can’t promise you how accepting people in Storybrooke will be, but… Boston is a good place. Once I grew up it… turned out to be a good place for me.”

“You?”

“Yeah. I didn’t really want to tell you this while Henry was snooping, but… I’m bisexual. One of my foster families wasn’t so understanding, and neither were some of the kids in school, but I found allies, eventually. After my foster brother, Neal was one of the first people I really came out to.”

“I see.” Regina wondered for a moment if she ought to be jealous of Emma’s intimacy with Neal, but brushed the thought aside.

“Hey, maybe we should go to a pride parade next year.”

“Pride parade?”

“It’s a parade, but all in support of equality, and even if you don’t identify as queer you can still come as an ally – a supporter, I mean.”

“And this is… an acceptable pastime?”

“Yeah, totally. I think we’ll have to wait until the summer to go to one, but we should definitely do it.”

“I’ll consider it.”

“Coming from you, that sounds almost optimistic. Hey, how would you feel about a movie night, once dinner’s ready? You can pick something out we can’t watch with Henry.”

“But you could just as well do that on your own, when Henry isn’t staying with you.”

“That was easier when Mary Margaret was my roommate, instead of both my parents. And besides, movies are more fun if you’ve got company.”

“Speak for yourself.” Regina sighed. “Movies are in the cabinet above the television.”

“Actually…” Emma said, browsing through the collection, “do you have Netflix? I think we should watch Orange is the New Black.”


End file.
